The Record Fair

By Michael Jones

June 2006

The record fair was well attended, with crowds of people checking through the bins of LPs

Rare Groove and Reference Audio proprietor Peter Hardie brought along new 1970s soul and R&B LPs

Record Fair organiser Klaus Buwert (right), with his son Jonathon.

If you ever doubted that there was interest in vinyl then you should have been at the second Record Fair. Held in Auckland on April 22, the Record Fair occupied a local hall throughout a Saturday morning and early afternoon.

“I think it’s busier than last time,” said Bernie, one of the sellers. “Some of the record sellers didn’t do so well [last time] and they’re missing here today. They had a lot of cheap rubbish, which just wasn’t worth selling. People are getting more selective now about vinyl, so you have to cater to that market.”

Indeed, and Bernie had a good selection. From Bernie I bought two LPs from the 1960s – a Cream Fresh Cream in mono and Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane, again in mono.

It wasn’t all second hand vinyl, though. Peter Hardie from Rare Groove (and also hi-fi importer Reference Audio) had several bins of new LPs available. Peter’s interest in soul, R&B and jazz were evident in the LPs available. I was tempted by a couple of Stevie Wonder LPs.

Most of the buyers appeared to be in their 30s, 40s and 50s. However, one exception was a young chap called Mark. Mark has been buying CDs for a decade but has found vinyl of more interest. “I usually go for vinyl because the older artists are cheaper on vinyl than they are on CD. When you get into 70s and 60s stuff it only costs $5 or $10 per record,” said Mark. He was looking for Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

One stand at the Record Fair was not selling any LPs. Roger and Mike from Trade Tech were at the Fair for other reasons. As well as supporting Klaus, the organiser of the Record Fair, Roger said “I believe in the repair and use of existing appliances” rather than throwing stuff out. Roger was please with the response at the Fair. “People here have discovered that they can get styli and belts for their old turntables.”

Klaus Buwert organised the two Record Fairs. So I asked him why he did it. “Because I like vinyl,” he said. “A lot of young people have come to my home, listened to vinyl and been very impressed. That is why I thought to organise the record fair. There’s more people buying and using turntables and they need vinyl.

So is he going to organise another Record Fair? “Oh yes. I think we can do one every six months or so.”

Have your say!

Tell us what you think about this article. Email your comments.

Talk about this article on the AudioEnz Forums.